BoinxBlog

"The idea of PartySnapper emerged a couple years ago. I was at the wedding of a friend and he bought a lot of those old Polaroid cameras with those well…” you’ll just have to watch the full video to find out how Bastian feels about those disposable cameras and how he came up with the original concept of PartySnapper.

Bonus points if you can figure out how many times Bastian changes his glasses!

Have you ever seen an iPhone 5 made entirely out of clay? Youtuber leoand1 created an incredible replica – seriously, every last detail is included – to show that an iPhone only ceases to amaze beyond the limits of your imagination. Who knows; maybe a 3D Statue of Liberty popping out of the home screen is the next thing on Apple’s list!

Using clay to help mold your ideas can help you achieve a dreamlike look in your animations. It’s a great medium to make your story come to life beyond reality. We’ve seen some incredibly innovative Claymation creations, and we can’t wait to see what ideas leoand1’s vision sparks in others!

"When I was young, a long time ago, I was at my Noble Prize party, taking pictures with my instant camera. I tried to throw them on the wall. They didn’t stick. Back in the day, this was impossible,” recalls Dr. Term T. Bowman, Ph.D., Head Scientist and Chief Good Vibes Officer at Boinx Software.

Today, all you need is PartySnapper.

PartySnapper is a social photo wall on steroids. It has both a photo-taking mode for attendees and a mode for hosting parties. Every guest at a party takes tons of pictures with their iPhones. PartySnapper transmits these instantly to the host’s iPad or iPhone wirelessly, where all the photos are collected then displayed as a beautiful slideshow that plays on a TV or projector via AirPlay or cable. At the end of the party, there’s no need to ask the guests to send in their photos – they’ve already been aggregated on the host’s device. The app is super easy to use; hosts and party-goers alike should both be able to use it, even at the end of a long night of partying.

“We have been toying around with this app idea for a long time. But making a great app takes a lot of effort and more often than not, an app is not appreciated by users enough to pay the developer back,” states Oliver Breidenbach, Boinx’s CEO. “In fact, development, design and marketing will take about three times more than the $20,000 campaign goal. But we are prepared to match every dollar with two of our own to make PartySnapper a reality, if backers also think this is a great idea. All we ask is that with a small (or large) contribution, you show us that our efforts will not be in vain.”

Party Perks: Join Boinx at Oktoberfest - Or At Least Get a T-Shirt!

Aside from helping to make an unbelievably cool app a reality and changing the world of partying forever, we’re offering a number of great perks to thank backers for their generous donations. In addition to two versions of PartySnapper, campaign supporters can claim perks such as a PartySnapper T-shirt, an iPhone 5/5s case, an authentic Bavarian beer stein (limited to just 100 exclusive pieces) and much more. One level even offers two tickets to the Boinx Oktoberfest party, so one (or two separate) backers can party with Boinx for their generous donation. Special investment levels are available to Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg.

This year, Richard Campbell learned a new meaning of success when he invested in a bunch of iPad Airs for the students at his private English academy in Busan, South Korea. He found that his students became much more engaged when working with the iPads. Above all, they were truly enjoying what they were learning.

“Technology allows teachers and students to explore new areas of learning,” says Richard, who teaches students from grades one through nine. “Also, it helps students to learn skills for future careers that may not even exist yet. For my classes, technology allows me to create differentiated instruction more easily, while encouraging students to explore their own creativity.”

Richard discovered iStopMotion a long time ago, but it wasn’t until he implemented iPad use in his classroom that he could begin using the program with his students. When the iPads came in, the iStopMotion app was one of the first they downloaded.

“Encouraging my students to work with stop motion was difficult at first,” he says. “The amount of time it takes to create a short clip was a tough sell to my students. However, after we read ‘Coraline’ by Neil Gailman, my students were hooked. One of my classes has recently started projects based on the book ‘The Westing Game.’ Students are using iStopMotion to recreate their favorite scenes from the book.”

To do this, the class began by discussing different parts of the book that would translate well into stop motion. Then, each student created his or her own storyboard. Richard notes that the Animation Chefs (our good friends !) had some great example videos on stop motion that really helped the class brainstorm. Once the storyboards were complete, the class learned more about operating iStopMotion as an app, as well as filming stop motion animation in general. They began filming at the end of the week, and the next week was dedicated to editing their videos in iMovie. One student even used a blue screen for her project to add an extra special touch. Both Richard and his students particularly enjoyed using the iStopMotion remote camera.

“The reaction of my students has been great,” Richard says. “Not everything has gone as planned, but students really enjoy the process and it’s hard to get them to go home sometimes!”

For stop motion beginners, Richard has some words of wisdom. “My advice would be to read as much as you can about the process. Watch stop motion videos or movies and ask questions. There are a lot of experts and experienced people out there who are more than willing to help you get started.”

We agree! Watching other stop motion videos is a great way to spark your imagination. It’s useful to see how other people decided to make their characters and sets move, what materials they chose to use and what topics they decided to cover. Try searching for stop motion videos on websites like YouTube, Twitter or Vimeo, or check out the Theater in our app. Take a scroll through the Boinx blog and check out the Animation Chefs’ site as well like Richard did. And be sure to check out the example from one of Richard’s students above for some excellent pointers!

Ian Blackwood & The Bipolars recently came out with an awesome music video trailer for their song “Save Me,” complete with premade and customized Lego figures and sets supplied by Firestar Toys. Friends of the band, Ian Husbands and Toni Husbands put the animation together using an iPhone 4 as a remote camera attached to an iPad 2 with iStopMotion to capture the images. The final editing was done in Final Cut on a Mac.

The pair reported that they loved using iStopMotion for iPad to help shoot their video, saying it allowed them a lot more flexibility than a fixed computer would have in putting together the animation. The ability to move the iPad and iPhone around made their work a lot easier, as they have a small filming setup. The smooth user interface also made working slick, since like many others, they’re so familiar with other Apple apps that using the app came naturally.

We love the old Western feel to the animation. The face changes on the Lego figures rock, too! It adds realism to the video that can’t help but bring a smile to your face. We’re definitely excited to see the entire music video when it comes out!

Check out the music video trailer above before the full video becomes available! Like the song? Grab it on iTunes now!